had a serious nasty spill after skidding on slick street tell me how to avoid it so I don‘t do any more damage to the bike :)
yea, that,s true! if the axle was broke, you won,t be goin nowhere, it will just sit still, because the front axles is what pulls the car.
Start with riding to avoid the situation as much as possible, in the wet you have to ride giving yourself more space than in the dry nearly 50% more than you would in the dry, use observation to anticipate what the other road users is going to do. In the dry you should be braking almost 100% on the front brake, in the wet use 70% front and 30% back. Each time you brake use them progressively – in both wet and dry the brakes should be used when upright as you apply the front build up the pressure, “feeling” the effect through the handlebars, with experience it becomes clear when the brake starts to lock, at that point release the brake and reapply – do not treat it as an on/off switch. There is a lot less “feel” on the back brake any twitches are signs but they can come too late, however on no occasion should you stamp on the rear brake – it might work sometimes eventually it is going to hurt you. EDIT: You cannot high side from a locked up front brake
Dry weather always makes it better, but you will sooner or later be riding in the rain. A decent pair of fitted gloves would be a good investment. When applying the front brake you should roll your hand forward, reach out with your fingers and curl them round the brake lever and apply increasing pressure – do not grab the levers they are not switches, they should be used progressively. When pushing a bike you need to stand quite close, with your hands on each handlebar, apply the front brake, push the bike away from you to get it nearly upright, then flip up the stand with your right foot, then step closer so your hip is just brushing the saddle, if you wanted to you could now lean the bike on your hip, if you are standing close enough it will not fall over and the pressure will not be great. It can take some effort to get the bike moving, this is where your weight comes into play, by leaning forward you break the inertia and the bike starts to move – as soon as it does get back into position with your hip against the saddle again, you do not want your arms at full stretch because then you have no adjustment to make. Now you can walk the bike round, if you are turning to the right you might feel the bike is tipping away from you, let it lean more into your hip (these are minute amounts of lean) but it will give you more confidence. High(ish) heels will obviously affect your balance while you are doing this, a small heel is better than a flat sole (to help you hook on the footpegs). Practice with a bicycle – people might stare though.
I wounder how some people live as long as they do. Ok here it goes, yes you can high side, if you lock up your front brake. Yes you can use your front brake 100% of the time. I did it last year, after my rear brake pads wore out. But that's me, not you. I've been riding for 33 years, and started out on dirt. Remember this, you can control a rear tire skid. You can not control a front tire skid. This is because the rear tire, always fallows a straight line. The front tire does not, it's what gives you control over the bike. Traction, is what gives you control over the front tire. Loose traction, loose control. If you lock up the front tire, you will loose control and you will go down. If you lock up the rear tire, you can counter steer to keep yourself up right. Not always, but it can be done. So now, here is how you brake in the rain. You do everything as slowly as you safely can. You may need twice, as much stopping distance as you do in dry conditions. Speed kills peaches. Use both front and rear brakes equally at the same time. If you need to stop faster than you first thought, apply the rear brake harder in short steppes. If the rear tire locks up, just ease off the rear brake. Try not to brake in a turn, once again it can be done. By me, because I know the feel of my bike. But I try to avoid, doing that like the plague. Even i'm not fast enough, to stop from going down, if the tires lock up in a turn. No one, is that fast.
